IAEA BOG FOLLOWUP: ROKG SUPPORTS CONTINUED PRESSURE ON IRAN TO COOPERATE WITH IAEA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 002885 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/K AND ISN/RA (RICHARD NEPHEW) E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/19/2017 TAGS: NKNNP IR IAEA MNUC PARM EUN KS SUBJECT: IAEA BOG FOLLOWUP: ROKG SUPPORTS CONTINUED PRESSURE ON IRAN TO COOPERATE WITH IAEA REF: SECSTATE 129914 Classified By: POL M/C Joseph Y. Yun, Reasons 1.4 (b,d). ¶1. (C) Poloff delivered reftel demarche to Park Chul-min, Director, Disarmament and Nonproliferation Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Park, who had attended the September 10-14 IAEA Board of Governors' (BOG) meetings in Vienna, said the ROKG continued to share USG concerns about Iran's level of cooperation with the IAEA towards compliance with the two previous UNSC resolutions regarding Iran's nuclear programs. Park noted that MOFAT and the ROK Mission in Vienna had closely coordinated with the US on its statement at the BOG meetings. Park said that the ROKG intention was to apply international pressure on Iran, convincing them to take compliance action now to avoid further sanctions. Therefore, Park said the ROKG did not believe it was time to explicitly endorse the need for a third sanctions resolution. ¶2. (C) Park explained that the ROKG position remained that Iran must fully comply in a timely manner with the UNSCRs and that the "Plan of Action" was just an initial step. Noting that the ROK would no longer hold a voting seat at the November IAEA BOG meeting, Park said that the ROKG would still attend. Park undertook to convey Washington's concerns to the ROK Mission in Vienna and noted that the ROKG would continue to apply pressure, whenever possible, to ensure that IAEA DG ElBaradei's report included a frank assessment of Iranian cooperation. VERSHBOW